DE 44 19 429 discloses an internal combustion engine that burns a gaseous fuel/air mixture in a main combustion space, the mixture being ignited from a combustion prechamber. The prechamber is connected to a high-pressure fuel-gas line and forms a fuel-rich mixture which self-ignites and, as a result of the further increase in pressure, flows over into the main combustion space where it burns completely and in the process ignites the compressed fuel/air mixture.